Recent Stories in Music

About two months ago, a citywide call for lamps was circulated widely among Seattle music fans. Producer Bobby McHugh wanted Seattle's finest lighting solutions to have a chance to shine upon the Head and the Heart, Sub Pop's latest critically-beloved (mostly) nature-inflected by way of Ballard, foot-stomping, hootenanny-friendly rock sensation. Today, you can see what happened to all of those lighting fixtures when the band took a field trip to a snowy field to make their second video.

The Head and the Heart are currently driving a van around the country, but will return to Seattle in April. Their first homecoming show sold out in a matter of minutes, but a second date was just added. Tickets for their appearance on 30 April go pre-on-sale on Thursday morning (and general on-sale on Friday) at Easy Street records.

(video via Another Rainy Sunday, among others)

The still relatively new Columbia City Theater played host to some exciting bands on Saturday. It was Youth Rescue Mission's CD release show, and they shared the stage with the eclectic Heatwarmer and the emotional Grand Hallway.

Youth Rescue Mission are a new group formed chiefly of four siblings. They brought the whole family with them Saturday, with their parents on cello and electric bass and their cousin on drums. The siblings had wonderful four-part harmonies, which the crowd enthusiastically welcomed. There was even a little singing and stomping along from those at the front.

Heatwarmer followed with an astounding set, prompting Grand Hallway's Tomo Nakayama to declare them his favorite band in Seattle. Heatwarmer takes the standard rock lineup, adds keyboards and an electric wind instrument, and then proceed to play Frank Zappa jams. It's almost as if they took a look at the joke combinations of genres bands use on MySpace (like easy listening/zydeco/eclectic) and actually formed a band around it. Influences from all over the place could be heard and the musicians are ridiculously talented. For the last few songs, they brought in a saxophone quartet dubbed the "Seattle Sax Murderers." If anyone was making an '80s-style superhero show, they would be required to employ the services of Heatwarmer for the soundtrack.... (more)

Over at Stereogum, our friends The Thermals just premiered the video for their latest single from Kill Rock Stars' Personal Life. Apparently, the space program-themed clip took about six months to film in Seattle and Bellingham. Besides the Portland trio (dressed as astronauts, natch), the video's real star is Cal Anderson Park, especially the Wallrus wall, which figures prominently--and oh yeah, the time and efforts of about fifty volunteers, the Seattle Experimental Animation Team, and director Clyde Peterson, all of whom worked to make the magic happen. Watch the video above and head over to Clyde's blog to learn all about the high-tech yet lo-fi filming and rotoscoping process.

Locally, Franklin, Rainier Beach, and West Seattle high schools are participating in the Get MotivatED Challenge, in collaboration with Def Jam Rapstar. The grand prize is a trip to New York City to meet with Def Jam executives like Russell Simmons and Kevin Liles, and the chance to perform a rap live on BET’s 106 & Park. 

The idea is that entrants will come up with a short rap or spoken word video about how education influences their life: "You can rhyme about your goals, going to college, school pride, hard work, dedication--it’s up to you!" You have to get your video entry up by March 18, and the earlier, the better. West Seattle's got one up already:

I do not know a lot about rap, but some of these suggested topics don't sound very gangsta to me. School pride sounds especially soul-killing. Look what "Be True to Your School" did to the Beach Boys, and they really had no rep to lose to begin with. I don't know if this contest is "Blue Scholars Approved," like the Hip Hop Word Count project, but I think it could use a Blue Scholars take. You want something on the influence of education? Listen to this:... (more)

That's Yo La Tengo, playing a "secret" show for KEXP donors down at the Triple Door. You can listen to the broadcast today at 4 p.m. on KEXP, or head down to the Showbox this evening for one or both of their sets. They have a wheel to spin that directs them into eight different programs. At the Triple Door, they settled on a "Freewheeling Yo La Tengo" format, doing songs generated by the questions in a Q&A. (Yes, "Cherry Chapstick" makes an appearance.) That's why I now know they have rarely been arrested (Ira, loaned driver's license; Georgia, pot; James, "the Man can't catch me"), believe they helped defeat George Bush in 2004, and consider vomiting a huge, underreported part of being rockstars. Bassist James McNew also shared his contention that the Seattle Sonics had the best jersey color combination in the NBA, and that film ended with his appearance in The Parking Lot Movie.

On Sunday night, a trio of modern day Bruce Springsteens finished up a three day stand at Showbox SoDo. The gravel voiced, working class heroes sang to us of the hard times on that rainy evening. Each singer bared their soul to a slightly soaked but appreciative crowd.

Upon arriving, we were greeted with a line of old punks dressed in black waiting to be patted down by a cadre of gruff security guards. I haven't been patted down for a show in quite some time, so I was expecting mayhem during the headliner's set. However, the Sunday night crowd was pretty tame.

Throughout the night's acts, I was struck by how perfectly the music worked with the lyrical content. Songs of hard drinking and hard work sound better with a steel guitar. The ragged alt-country of Chuck Ragan and the country influenced punk of Lucero tapped into a deeper body of work that form the core of the American collective soul. A music that uniquely captures our struggle for independence and against all of the hardships along the way. The spirit of this American genre continues in alt-country, the latest punk rock retirement plan.... (more)

Byron Schenkman (William Stickney Photography)

Watching Byron Schenkman in concert at Cornish's Chamber Music Series on Saturday night, a simple thought came into my head: We’re lucky to have him.

Virtuoso musicians, truly virtuoso musicians, are more rare than you think. But when Schenkman emerged from behind a curtain on Saturday to take his place behind the piano, he created a night of music that not only marked him as an immensely talented musician, but also a man with great taste, devotion, passion, and wit. 

Saturday’s concert was a more personal affair. Schenkman had selected six works that said as much about the composers as it did about him. He chose challenging works and met each challenge with grace, speed, and precision--and that would be astonishing in itself--but the program moved along on passion as well and that was the evening’s defining feature. 

Schenkman is a devoted proponent of early classical music, usually defined as compositions from the 15th through 17th centuries. In fact, he has recently joined the staff at Cornish where he teaches early music. (Knowing that is enough to tempt this 48-year-old to head back to school.)

The night started with a playful piano sonata by Haydn, a composer best known for his incomparable string quartets. Schenkman dove in and breezed through with speed and clarity, a powerhouse combination for a solo performer. 

Next up was Mozart’s Fantasy in D Major, a work the maestro never managed to finish. In an introduction to the song, Schenkman gave a short history of the piece and referenced that, over the centuries, many musicians have tried to finish the piece. He then boldly announced that he’d worked out his own ending. Whether he topped earlier versions can be left to other critics, but to these ears it was seamless and logical. ... (more)

(The following conversation unfolded this morning on arts editor Jeremy M. Barker's Facebook. Feel free to add your own thoughts on Valentine's Day sexy songs, or email jeremy (at) sunbreakmagazine.com to have your choices included.)

JMB [Arts writer.]: Happy Vday, y'all!

KP [Environmental policy analyst.]: Oh, MBV! Superawesome show! You and your clear Valentine's joy...

JMB: Sexy post-coital slow jam from MBV, come on!...

Last night, Social Distortion played their first of three sold-out shows at Showbox SoDo. On the heels of a new album, the show pretty much had material spanning the band's entire history. The old songs sounded every bit as good as the new ones, and many had slightly new compositions. Amazing!

If you don't already have tickets to the remaining two shows, you could be out of luck, since they are sold out.

Shots from the show after the jump.... (more)

Just because reader and Flickr pool photog Ozmafan asked for it this morning. Enjoy!

After having read the Wikipedia entry for midlife crisis, I think The Get Up Kids might be right in the middle of theirs. They have a "desire to achieve a feeling of youthfulness," might have a "sense of remorse for goals not accomplished," and exhibit "a fear of humiliation amongst more successful colleagues." However, they haven't bought a sportscar yet, so their latest tour might just be a reconstruction of their core ideals and not a midlife crisis after all.

Their new songs are clearly an attempt to reach out to a new, younger audience--though that younger audience was relegated to the balcony of Neumo's on Wednesday, they enjoyed the songs at first. As it got later in the evening, they stopped dancing and started leaving. By the end of the set, about twenty under-21 patrons remained. You couldn't really blame them, they didn't know the words to the old songs or the new songs. They didn't have the emotional connection to the band that the old folks did.... (more)

I'm not sure what brand of friend rock this is, but the crazy kids at Mal de Mer are definitely friends--of me, of the site, of all that. So take this as a personal, rather than journalistic, endorsement. But still, check out the music video for their first single (shot at Pony and featuring locals Nick Garrison and Ade Connere) and tell me this isn't a band you'd be 100 percent behind? Led by singer-songwriter Michael Lee, a former NW teen rocker turned longtime fixture (everyone in Seattle theatre knows him as the charming bartender at Solo, Seattle's de facto Sardi's), the band features members of The Redwood Plan, The Divorce, and Slender Means, and they're catchy as hell. Check them out Saturday at the Sunset in Ballard, presented by KEXP's Audioasis, with an acoustic set from Jen Wood and Hallways. Tickets $7 adv./$8 DOS; 21+.

The audience at Sunday night's forgetters show arrived with lofty expectations. They wanted to experience a life-changing moment. They were looking to relive the glory days. They yearned to be part of the beginning of something special. If Blake Schwarzenbach's new band continues to play, the audience may look back at this show as all of those things.

Much of the crowd at the all-ages Vera Project was comprised of 30-40 year old males. I recognized many familiar faces from local punk bands and record stores, and even more were local writers, DIY community organizers, and record store clerks. The influence of Jawbreaker and/or Jets to Brazil on these music lovers was clear. Yet, interspersed among the old punks was a new generation of blue-mohawked and black-hoodie-wearing kids, some who must have been just starting school when Jets to Brazil was ending. The whole crowd had enough respect for the new project to not yell out any of these old bands songs, and one boisterous crowd member even shouted out my favorite forgetters' song, "Too Small to Fail." They were there to hear something new. It was tinged with nostalgia, perhaps, but definitely new.

Listening hard to forgetters, you can pick out sounds from both of Schwarzenbach's early bands, though it's easier to draw parallels with Jawbreaker. There's more noise than Jets to Brazil had, and more straightforward rhythms. Prevalent in the set was the Jawbreaker trick of including samples of various poetry readings, nature shows, or political speeches, usually as introductions to songs. The mix kept the vocals low, just like early Jawbreaker records.

The Fleet Foxes have announced their new album, Helplessness Blues, will be released on May 3, a feat they're commemorating with a show at the Moore Theatre in Seattle.

They had a little presale/preorder package going this morning, where you could pre-purchase the album and tickets to the Moore show, but the supply of presale tickets predictably didn't last long. (FYI, in other indie crush news, the New Pornographers have also announced a spring tour, sans Seattle or Portland or Vancouver.) The Foxes' tour actually begins in Vancouver on April 30, then they zip down to Portland on May 1 (socialist!), before returning to Seattle on the 3rd.

Sub Pop has the title track, "Helplessness Blues," available for streaming or download. They also inform you that:

Helplessness Blues was recorded over the course of a year at Avast Recording, Bear Creek Studios, Dreamland Studios, and Reciprocal Recording. The album was recorded and mixed by Phil Ek and co-produced by Fleet Foxes and Ek. The piece that appears on the album cover was illustrated by Seattle artist Toby Liebowitz and painted by Chris Alderson. Fleet Foxes is Robin Pecknold, Skyler Skjelset, Christian Wargo, Casey Wescott, Josh Tillman, and Morgan Henderson.

On Twitter (I think it's mostly Pecknold), the band reflects on the trials of hirsute musical perfectionism. I'll assemble the relevant tweets for your reading pleasure:... (more)

Seattle Modern Orchestra's leaders, Julia Tai (top) and Jeremy Jolley (bottom)

Following World War II, there was a massive creative explosion across all the arts. Painters started slashing at canvases or painting huge color fields; movies grew darker, more cynical; popular music leaped into rock and soul; and classical music composers experimented with new sounds and valiantly tried to create a new language for music.

The overall results have been hit-or-miss in terms of popular appeal and lasting cultural change. Painters like Pollock, Rothko, and the abstract expressionists did create a new language for their art, and rock and roll is here to stay, but that new generation of classical composers struggled to find receptive audiences.

But maybe that's because this is music best played by true believers. Those who are wiling to trust in the aspirations of the composers and in the ability of this music to move audiences.

Last Friday, Seattle Modern Orchestra presented three modern works, one each from the 1950s, '70s and '80s, in concert at Cornish. It was magnificent evening of music and a victory of true believers: a powerful, moving, and fascinating adventure.

Launched last year, Seattle Modern Orchestra is led by co-artistic directors Jeremy Jolley, a composer, and Julia Tai, a conductor. The two opened the show with an engaging introduction to explain to the audience, or perhaps warn them, about the unusual sounds they could expect to hear. Eager, nervous, and clearly pleased with the standing-room-only crowd, the two staged a mock Q&A about the composers in the program and then invited violist Larissa Brown onstage to show the different techniques the employed by the composers.

There followed examples of plucking, striking, bending, and sliding notes. Brown played a note on the bridge, a somewhat scratchy sound, and on the neck, a low murmur. It was hard not to feel a bit apprehensive about what was to come, but Jolley and Tai had the right idea. These composers try for a new language for music, one that is based more on timbre than melody and harmony, a more constructed sound.

The concert kicked off with Claude Vivier’s Zipangu (1980), a lovely work for small orchestra. The music jumped and swayed and featured the unusual, almost spongy sound of musicians tightly pressing down the strings of their instruments as they slowly drew their bows over the notes. As a result, there was a somewhat tipsy feel to the piece, though with echoes of Middle Eastern and south Pacific island rhythms.... (more)

The Get Up Kids will be at Neumo's on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011. Doors are at 7 p.m., tickets are available for $21 in advance, and the show is all ages.

The Get Up Kids aren't really kids anymore.

Emo wasn't always the maligned subgenre of punk that it is today. In the mid '80s, East Coast hardcore punk bands begin to tire of being angry all the time. In fact, they started to feel downright sad about it. Bands like Rites of Spring and Embrace had people crying at their shows and musicians were realizing their music could have a power to inspire people to feel something other than anger.

About thirteen years after Rites of Spring and Embrace broke up, the genre was popularized and summarily ruined. While emo songs were always melodramatic, they became comically so. Bands like My Chemical Romance started wearing eyeliner and dyeing their hair black, brushing it to the side in a precursor to the world's next Celine Dion, Justin Bieber. Yet just before this mainstream explosion, the genre was at its peak and producing some amazing bands like Sunny Day Real Estate, The Promise Ring, and Texas is the Reason.... (more)

Blake Schwarzenbach is one of the best punk lyricists of the last 25 years. After reading his compositions, it's no surprise to find that he is an Adjunct Professor of English at Hunter College in his spare time. Schwarzenbach is bringing his lyrical prowess to The Vera Project on Sunday with his new band, forgetters (no "the", no capital "f") and it will be a fantastic show.

Schwarzenbach's new band is a bit of a throwback to his first band, the famously influential Jawbreaker. They played their last show at the Capitol Theater in Olympia in 1996, but Schwarzenbach returned to Washington later with Jets to Brazil, a much more solemn but just as amazing band. It's been awhile since Blake has played here, as Jets to Brazil last came through town in 2003 and Thorns of Life, his short-lived punk-rock supergroup, never made it to our lovely state.

Middle-aged and older punks are sorely looking forward to the return of the punk troubadour and fans of Jawbreaker will not be disappointed with forgetters. If you need more encouragement to go to this show, it's all ages and you'll be home in time to rest up for work on Monday. If that's not enough, here is a selection of my favorite Schwarzenbach lyrics.... (more)

Let's face it, you're bored with music. Pop music is too vapid and indie music just becomes the new pop eventually. The radio used to be interesting but even the alternative to the alternative station is just doing what everyone else is. Very little new music really challenges you or makes you wonder how it was made.

A group of Seattle musicians felt largely the same way when they started the Cumulus Festival. 2011 marks the third year of the independent festival, which begins this Thursday. Lucky enough to attend all the Cumulus Festival shows, I can say that the variety of bands has been staggering and every night left me amazed at what had happened.

I sent some questions to the organizers to get some inside information about the festival and spread the news that something exciting and different is happening this weekend.

Let's start with the basics. Who is involved with, and what was the inspiration for beginning, the Cumulus Festival?

Levi Fuller, Kenny Day, and I (Mark Schlipper) are the three guys behind the festival. At the time Kenny was the drummer in The Luna Moth (Dan Colavito is now). Basically, the three of us liked playing shows with likeminded bands and wanted to provide an outlet for, and show appreciation of, the local talent. So the idea for a festival to showcase 'em came to mind.

Why instrumental (or mostly instrumental) music?

[It's the] nature of the Luna Moth coterie really. We wanted to focus on the kinds of bands we often played shows with. And often those bands are of the more instrumental variety. That inspiration and the initial concept of a mid-winter Seattle festival named after a cloud formation paints a particular kind of picture. Our curating process hasn't ever had a concrete set of rules, mind you, we've always just approached it with a "we'll know it when we hear it" logic. And it's just happened that it's less likely a prominently vocal fronted band has fit in that picture.... (more)

Emo music is not for quitters. This might seem counterintuitive, but emo bands continue to make records and play shows despite how popular it is to hate them. Furthermore, a number of emo songs are about believing in things long after everyone else has given up on them. These folks are not throwing in the towel just because of general disinterest.

Emo poster boys Chris Conley (the distinctive voice of Saves the Day) and Chris Carrabba (aka Dashboard Confessional) made a visit to Neumo's recently to relive their past glory. It seems strange to base your career on whiny songs about girls, but it has served these two gentlemen well for the past ten years. There's something universally identifiable about their work that propelled them to stardom in 2001 and continues to draw crowds today.

Conley played Saves the Day songs on simple acoustic guitar. Between songs, we shouted out our favorites and the set developed along the lines of our requests. Some requests were denied as "needing the full band" but, in general, the crowd seemed pleased with the selections.

Conley's uncanny, high and nasal voice was clear and strong as he powered through our requests, mostly from Saves the Day's biggest release, Stay What You Are. My favorite song, This is Not an Exit, was played early on, with its positive, reassuring ending line "Just know you did it all the best that you knew how" being followed by a sincere "I love you guys" from Conley. Near the end of his set, he announced that Saves the Day would be releasing a new record soon.... (more)

Listening to Pearl Jam’s Live on Ten Legs, you’d never know that its 18 songs were plucked from performances in multiple countries during a seven-year span. Some of that is thanks to the ears and tech wizardry of engineers John Burton and Bret Eliason, yes. But the real reason LO10L’s 77 minutes, recorded on numerous unspecified nights between 2003 and 2010, sound like one concert—albeit a brief one, by Pearl Jam’s marathon standards—is that the band is as energized now as it was two decades ago. All that’s changed since PJ played its first show in 1990 are its members’ experiences and motivations—political, familial, and presumably spiritual.

The new live record, a complement to the band’s 1998 live release, Live on Two Legs, highlights those evolving driving forces by including songs from Pearl Jam’s 1991 aggressive, dark-edged debut, Ten—massive hits “Jeremy” and “Alive;” “Porch”—and its latest record, the mostly chin-up but reflective Backspacer (“Got Some,” “The Fixer,” “Just Breathe,” “Unthought Known”). Mixed in are telling sonic markers in the road between: “Animal” and “Spin the Black Circle” (raw, punk-influenced declarations), “I Am Mine” and “Nothing as It Seems” (skeptical, learned resolve), “Rearviewmirror” (distanced perspective), and “World Wide Suicide” (Bush-era anger and despair), among them.... (more)

In memory of Dave Niehaus (1935-2010). Video by Jason Koenig (JkoePhoto.com), Produced by Ryan Lewis, all proceeds benefit the Rainier Vista Boys and Girls Club.

You gotta love these guys.

If 2009 was an unusually nostalgic year in local music for certain wistful Seattle Gen-Xers, 2010 was the opening cymbal crash of an encore. Defunct old favorites reunited. Extant old favorites continued to soar. A tight-knit community that first rocked the world a quarter-century ago grew ever closer, through remembrance of lost friends and the sharing of new music. Here are five 2010 music-related events that tickled those Seattleites who’ve been listening all these years. (Part one here.)

 

5. Cameron Crowe Shoots Pearl Jam Film

Director Cameron Crowe’s relationship with Pearl Jam goes all the way back to 1991, when he shot Singles in town, casting Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, and Eddie Vedder as members of local rock band Citizen Dick (wink, wink). In 2010, Crowe was shooting the band again, this time to commemorate its 20th anniversary. (He also directed the video for Backspacer single "The Fixer.") As reported in June, Crowe and crew were spotted in Madrona and Capitol Hill, presumably recapturing important locales from the band's past. Details on the film, Pearl Jam Twenty, are hazy, but it will see some sort of release this year. (Just in: said film will be accompanied by a soundtrack and book.) Stay tuned.

4. Pigeonhed Brings Back the Funk

The year-end lists are flooding in, and the jazz blogosphere is replete with best-of's. I know I'm a little late to the party, but as I did last year, I thought I would put my own spin on this yearly ritual and shine the spotlight on the amazing jazz talent we have right here in the Emerald City. There were many more than 10 great CDs released by Seattle jazz artists in 2010, so I couldn't put everyone on this list.

I'm sure there are one or two I've forgotten, so please feel free to add yours in the comments section. I reserve the right to amend this list as I'm reminded of the other great CDs that came out of Seattle this year. Here they are, in no particular order (click the CD cover to purchase):

Matt Jorgensen - Tattooed By Passion (Origin Records) I'm pretty sure that this CD got the most spins of any this year around my house and in my car. Matt always puts out great CDs, but this is something really special. Perhaps it's because the songs are all inspired by his late father-in-law, the painter Dale Chisman. Perhaps it's the connection with his bandmates (Corey Christiansen on guitar, Mark Taylor on sax, Thomas Marriott on trumpet, and Dave Captein on bass), all of whom he's worked with quite a bit. Perhaps it's the lush string arrangements. Or perhaps it's all of the above. In any case, this is an album that you should check out if you haven't already. It's full of truly inspired music.

Listen: "Tattooed By Passion"... (more)

As 2010 recedes into the fog of memory, some of your friends at The SunBreak gathered 'round the virtual table to remember the past year's musical experiences.  Watch it above, or read the transcript below.

Josh: So, standouts from 2010?

MvB: I should be upset with Sufjan Stevens for giving a live performance at the Paramount that so energetically trumped his album.

Josh: YES, YES, YES to that Sufjan show. I can't remember any other performance that so changed my mind about an album. My resistance to the bloopy, squelchy, synthetic assault on his usual whispery beauty on the Age of Adz was high, and I didn't know what to make of it. But somehow, seeing him perform it at the the Paramount with a halloween-decked band, behind a light-painted scrim, and with the full-on shuttershades freak-out of "Impossible Soul" left me finding excuses, train rides, or long walks to spend with the record in my earphones. That he closed the set with "the hits" helped me to leave the show with a sigh of delight.

MvB: Maybe it's just the Paramount: Rufus Wainwright's show there was also a stand-out, with the normally insouciant Wainwright struggling through tears, and making the latter half of the evening into a heart-wrenching valediction for his mother.

Audrey: Cosign on the magical music powers of Sufjan and Rufus. I cried at both shows.... (more)

If 2009 was an unusually nostalgic year in local music for certain wistful Seattle Gen-Xers, 2010 was the opening cymbal crash of an encore. Defunct old favorites reunited. Extant old favorites continued to soar. A tight-knit community that first rocked the world a quarter-century ago grew ever closer, through remembrance of lost friends and the sharing of new music. Here are five 2010 music-related events that tickled those Seattleites who’ve been listening all these years. (Part two here.)

10. Pearl Jam Launches Satellite Radio Station
What do you give the fans who have everything (hundreds of official bootlegs, multiple live records, nine studio releases since 1991)? On October 22, the 20th anniversary of the band's first show, Pearl Jam gave its fans the whole sonic shebang, in 24-hour rotation: Pearl Jam Radio. The band's satellite channel (Sirius, 17; XM, 39) not only mixes concert and studio recordings, but gives its cult-status fan family a chance to hear previously unreleased show tracks (going back to that first gig) and another to commune on fan roundtable show "The All Encompassing Trip." Live and studio recordings from PJ members' other current and defunct projects, including Eddie Vedder's solo work, Temple of the Dog, Mother Love Bone, and Mad Season are gravy. There's no better way to tune in to Pearl Jam's origins and evolution...unless you magically have all of this on vinyl.

9. Soundgarden Issues Telephantasm Retrospective
No one expected a Soundgarden reunion prior to January 1, but most folks knew that a career-spanning best-of box was just a matter of time. On September 28, the latter followed the former, in multiple packages—from simple CD to sly (and savvy) Guitar Hero bonus to limited-pressing vinyl set. The box included all the audio hits, of course, but also some previously unreleased live tracks, 14 music videos, bonus videos, and one (excellent) unearthed song from the Badmotorfinger sessions, "Black Rain." For those who couldn't witness Soundgarden's stage return—and that was pretty much everyone—Telephantasm was a worthy consolation prize.... (more)